22: Chapter 22 I'm a farmer!

On the way to the village’s east entrance, Tang Yao kept asking about the situation in reality.

But Hu Gualing was never serious; one moment he said he was a great Cultivator at the Divided Soul stage in reality, and the next he claimed to have a hundred thousand security guards under his command.

Although Tang Yao was a bit disappointed, there was nothing she could do.

She had heard that experts were usually hard to deal with.

Someone like Hu Gualing, who wanted to challenge a BOSS as soon as he entered the game, must be a legendary gaming expert.

It was only normal that he couldn't communicate like an ordinary person.

The two arrived at the village’s east entrance, only to find that there was no way forward.

A stocky farm woman stood there, her skin a dark reddish-brown, clearly from working under the sun all year round.

The name floating above her head was [Miao Cuihua].

Hu Gualing looked down his nose at her. "Hey, do you know how to get out of the village?"

Miao Cuihua spoke with a simple, rustic accent.

"First, I ain't called 'Hey'."

"Second, if you want to leave the village, you gotta beat me first."

Hu Gualing suddenly understood. "So you're the village entrance boss! But this appearance... tsk tsk tsk." He shook his head, blew twice on his fists, and walked toward Miao Cuihua with a light, airy step.

He was certain this was in his dream; as long as he wanted to be, he was invincible.

As for that old Village Chief earlier, it must have been the virtue of respecting the elderly in his subconscious acting up.

Yeah, that must be it!

"Invincible God Fist!" Hu Gualing shouted at the top of his lungs.

Tang Yao’s eyes flashed with surprise.

Just from the name alone, it sounded like a very powerful skill!

As expected of a gaming expert!

Accompanied by the domineering Move name, Hu Gualing threw a punch!

The green name above the farm woman’s head instantly turned red.

His punch undoubtedly hit the target.

Or rather, it could be said that the farm woman caught his fist in her palm.

The farm woman’s broad, calloused palms made him feel like his bones were about to be crushed.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

Even though Hu Gualing knew this was a dream, he cried out spinelessly.

"I haven't even used any strength yet!"

The farm woman let go of Hu Gualing’s hand and covered her mouth, laughing naively.

At the same time, she didn't forget to swing her other arm in a wide arc, punching hard toward Hu Gualing’s stomach.

Bang!

A heavy, muffled sound.

The health bar above Hu Gualing’s head emptied.

He clutched his stomach, hunched over like a large shrimp, his expression distorted. "Auntie, what... what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a farmer," the farm woman replied with a simple smile.

Having received this answer, Hu Gualing seemed content to die; with a flash, he turned into a beam of white light and disappeared.

Tang Yao stood to the side with her mouth agape, too shocked to speak.

Did the expert... make a mistake?

Inside the Main God Space, Xiao Wan couldn't bear to watch any longer.

Originally, seeing this second player's tall and sturdy build, along with the courage to head straight for the BOSS upon entering the game, it thought Chen Mo had finally chosen the right person.

Although Hu Gualing had no skills or equipment.

But Xiao Wan had caught up on a lot of gaming knowledge; it knew that a player's true strength couldn't be judged solely by attributes and equipment.

In those multi-million-word online gaming biographies, it often saw players who had just entered the game and, while having nothing, relied on wisdom and exquisite maneuvers to kill monsters above their level, or even slay bosses.

In its eyes, Hu Gualing was very likely that kind of player.

But it watched with its own eyes as Hu Gualing first provoked the old Village Chief and was sent flying twice, then found Miao Cuihua and was simply killed outright this time.

Xiao Wan looked at Chen Mo, its eyes filled with resentment:

Sure enough, one shouldn't hold any hope for the host's judgment.

...

"Am I about to wake up?"

Hu Gualing thought in his subconscious.

According to his years of experience in daydreaming, things weren't always smooth sailing even in dreams; on the contrary, many times when danger was clearly right in front of him, it was hard to control his body in the dream to respond, and he could only watch as danger descended.

And that moment was usually when he would startle awake from the dream.

Hu Gualing prepared to get up and drink some water to calm his mood before going back to sleep, only to find that he was still in the dream.

Although his health bar had been emptied by that farming auntie's punch and he had died, and everything around him had turned gray and white, a prompt box appeared before his eyes.

[You have died. Spend revival coin *1 to perform Resurrection?]

[Insufficient revival coins. Spend fantasy points *1 to purchase revival coin *1?]

[Purchase successful.]

[revival coin used successfully.]

Hu Gualing didn't look closely and clicked 'Yes' through the series of prompts, finding that the gray-and-white scene in his vision returned to normal.

And he really had resurrected.

"There's even this kind of dream?"

"You can resurrect after dying?"

"Interesting, interesting!"

"I must stay in this dream a bit longer today."

Originally, being punched to death had made Hu Gualing quite depressed—how could the people in this dream have such strong hands?

But now that he found he could resurrect, he immediately cheered up, filled with interest in this novel dream.

"Great Sun Tathagata Punch!!"

Hu Gualing shouted and charged at Miao Cuihua once again.

"Again?"

The farm woman Miao Cuihua pursed her lips and helplessly swung her fist for another punch.

Without a doubt, this punch committed another act of killing.

In the gray-and-white space, although Hu Gualing was a bit depressed, he didn't take it too much to heart; after all, he had many similar experiences in his dreams before.

Like jumping from a height and wanting to fly but being unable to, or a sudden urge to urinate where he thought he had held it in, only to wake up and find his crotch and bedding soaked.

But in today's dream, no matter what, being able to resurrect was enough.

The Resurrection prompt box appeared again.

However, this time Hu Gualing found he couldn't click it.

The prompt said something about insufficient fantasy points.

It wasn't until a while later, when the System prompted that his online time was sufficient and fantasy points +1, that he successfully resurrected.

"Hu Gualing!" Tang Yao had waited for a full hour, looking left and right, before seeing Hu Gualing resurrect again. Fearing he would charge up and seek death again without a word, she hurriedly reached out to stop him. "Wait—"

Yet, whether Hu Gualing was thick-headed or what, he resolutely threw away his third life.

"Wait..."

"Sigh!"

Tang Yao lowered her hand helplessly.

It looked like she would have to wait another hour or two.

By this time, she could also see that this Hu Gualing couldn't possibly be some gaming expert; instead, there might be something wrong with his head.

But there was no other way; currently, Hu Gualing was the only player she had met.

To understand the situation in the real world, she could only bite the bullet and communicate with Hu Gualing.

While waiting to resurrect in the gray-and-white space again, Hu Gualing’s emotions finally underwent a slight change.

He had been quite excited when he first found he could resurrect, but dying again and again while the health bar above that auntie’s head hadn't even budged made him feel like this dream wasn't particularly interesting anymore.

[Do you wish to resurrect?]

"Yes."

After this Resurrection, Hu Gualing finally didn't noisily charge up again.

Miao Cuihua looked a bit guilty. "I didn't really want to hit you. You look quite sturdy, but you're actually so weak. Stop throwing your life away. I have a fist manual here; take it and practice first." She pulled a thin booklet from her bosom.

"Fist manual?" Hu Gualing took it, completely bewildered, only to find that this so-called manual had only two or three thin pages.

Not to mention the coarse, wrinkled paper material, it even felt sweaty in his hand.

"Farmers Three Punches?" Hu Gualing was full of disdain.

But after thinking about it, Miao Cuihua must have used this set of fist techniques, and the power seemed okay. He reluctantly treated the manual like a skill book and slapped it; it turned into a beam of white light and merged into his body.

[You have learned the fist technique Farmers Three Punches, current Rank 1]

[Farmers Three Punches (Rank 1):]

A fist technique used by the farm woman Miao Cuihua when taming oxen. The punch is fierce and has a certain piercing power]

"I was wondering why my Great Sun Tathagata Punch and Invincible God Fist wouldn't work! It turns out I had to learn a skill first!"

"Now, let's try the power of the Farmers Three Punches!"

With the skill in hand, Hu Gualing was eager to try. Whether it was due to the momentum from the previous few times or sheer stubbornness, his gaze locked directly onto Miao Cuihua, and he used the skill to launch an attack.

Miao Cuihua’s name turned red accordingly.

A plain and unadorned punch was thrown.

Looking at Hu Gualing, who had once again turned into white light, she sighed, "I really don't want to hit people..."